I slay evil in the Department of the Supernatural

"Rumble!" "Rumble!"

From a courtyard of old-fashioned black-tiled brick houses came a series of dull sounds, as if a heavy stone mill was slowly moving.

A light gray mist enveloped the courtyard, and a tall figure could be vaguely seen slowly pushing the stone mill in the courtyard.

The space beneath the millstone was empty, yet the figure pushing it moved like a tireless donkey, mechanically repeating the same motion.

This is clearly not a living person, but a zombie that has been corrupted and transformed by the extraordinary power of the sinkhole.

After Xu Lindong entered the alley, he approached upon hearing the noise and crouched on the courtyard wall, having been observing the zombie for a while.

Although the zombies in the sinkhole area are powerful, they generally won't be attracted unless you make a big commotion.

Therefore, when an executive like him acts alone, as long as he is not surrounded by multiple zombies, he has no problem protecting himself.

"This courtyard is so big, and there's only this one zombie. Even though it looks a bit big, it should be manageable."

"I'll take him under control and imprison him. Then I'll spend half a day in this courtyard, interacting with the zombie, understanding its power, and completing my advancement through the underground passage."

Xu Lindong looked at the burnt-out soot in his hand.

The smoke he just exhaled has revealed the situation in the opposite courtyard.

Apart from this zombie pushing the millstone, there was no other threat.

What really stirred his heart was the outline he sensed as the smoke gathered in a certain room.

It looked like an old stove.

The smoke acts like his eyes; by covering the interior, it reveals the specific furnishings.

It should be noted that most of the buildings in this ancient town were built a hundred years ago, and even though they were renovated in modern times, there are still quite a few old objects that remain.

"Hopefully, the ashes inside haven't been completely removed!"

Xu Lindong climbed over the wall, came to the courtyard gate, and knocked on the door frame a few times with the pipe in his hand.

"Bang bang!"

"rumble!"

The zombies inside were still grinding grain; they weren't attracted.

"What's going on? A deaf zombie?"

Xu Lindong found it strange and knocked twice harder.

"Bang! Bang!"

The dust that had accumulated on the lintel was shaken off in a flurry.

The grinding sound in the courtyard suddenly stopped.

A chilling aura quietly spread out.

But after several seconds, the zombie remained standing in the same spot, without making a sound.

"Strange, why aren't they taking the bait?"

Xu Lindong suddenly kicked open the courtyard gate with a loud bang and shouted:

"Robbery!"

The courtyard was filled with billowing mist, and finally heavy footsteps could be heard.

A tall, sinister zombie silhouette pierced through the mist, approaching step by step.

It was dressed in a short jacket and lantern pants, with a burly body, and it exuded an imposing aura as it approached.

Xu Lindong darted out the door and hid.

The cold, dark zombie had quickly reached the doorway, and a strong stench of decay assaulted our senses.

Just as it stepped one foot out of the threshold, Xu Lindong swung the chimney in his hand and fiercely blew it out!

"pound!!"

With a loud bang, the chimney was gripped tightly by a thick, dark blue hand with sharp nails, and the force caused it to bounce back.

The zombie clinging to the chimney turned its face, its dark, cold face stiff as stone, its eyes sunken, its dark pupils devoid of any life, only a deathly chill, staring intently at Xu Lindong.

"What?"

Xu Lindong was startled, and then felt a terrifying pull coming from the other side.

This zombie is incredibly strong.

But he reacted extremely quickly, and the fire in his hand suddenly burst into flames!

The chimney was instantly engulfed in flames, burning red-hot, and the pipe spewed out blazing golden-red flames.

"Hiss!!"

Black smoke immediately billowed from the zombie's hand, filling the air with a foul stench, and the grip on its hand suddenly loosened.

The raging fire simultaneously spewed from the chimney exhaust pipe, engulfing the zombie and setting it ablaze.

The chilling atmosphere diminished sharply as a result.

But the zombie did not back down at all. It walked forward through the flames with strange steps, and in an instant broke through the smoke from the stove. It arrived in front of Xu Lindong and threw a fierce punch at his face!

"call!!"

The punches were ferocious, carrying with them a putrid stench.

Xu Lindong's expression changed. Unable to pull the chimney back, he immediately let go and retreated quickly.

boom!!

The burning corpse fist, like a crimson pillar, grazed past his shoulder. The dull thud made his chest feel tight.

"burst!"

Xu Lindong let out a low shout, and a huge pillar of fire suddenly surged from his palm.

The fire in the stove was like an angry dragon coiling around his arm.

He lunged forward.

A punch, wreathed in flames, slammed heavily into the zombie's chest!

The violent, extraordinary power exploded instantly.

"boom!!"

A burst of golden-red flames exploded in his chest, and the scorching airwaves condensed into a tangible impact, instantly shattering the zombie's short jacket into ashes.

Bang!

The towering zombie was sent flying backward by the terrifying blow, its feet leaving the ground as it crashed into the doorpost, causing the door frame to tremble violently.

The chimney slipped from my grasp and fell to the ground, landing on its back on the threshold, spewing out blood that looked like black tar.

Before the zombie could rise, Xu Lindong darted forward, reached into his waist pouch, grabbed a handful of ashes, and slammed his palm down on the zombie's forehead.

"town!"

"Bang!"

Ashes trembled and spread, covering the faces of the zombies.

The fire in the stove went out immediately.

The zombie's body suddenly stiffened, its face completely suppressed by the ashes from the stove.

"It's done!"

Xu Lindong breathed a slight sigh of relief, glanced around, and then looked at the recorder in his hand.

The instrument did not respond.

Clearly, controlling the zombies in this way does not count as killing them.

He temporarily turned off the recorder and grabbed the zombie's wrist.

At the neck, the gate to the tenth floor of the Tower of Babel burst open with a roar.

The tall zombie that had been suppressed vanished in an instant.

"Merit +190!"

Xu Lindong felt a slight unease.

"The merit I've gained is even more than what I gained from killing the zombies before... It seems this giant zombie is much stronger."

He had an epiphany.

Just as there are varying degrees of strength among sequence superhumans of the same rank, zombies are likely no exception.

He turned the watch recorder back on.

The instrument remained unresponsive.

"It seems the mission requirement is to kill; imprisonment doesn't count... and it can't be recorded."

Xu Lindong pondered to himself.

At this moment, the hearth god charcoal within his body suddenly became restless.

Clearly, the intense eruption of the fire in the stove had triggered the extraordinary substances within the body.

He remained calm and immediately consumed forty points of merit.

A beam of light flashed from the Tower of Babel around his neck, and a suppressive force descended, instantly calming the restlessness within him.

Capturing the zombie alive earned 190 merits, while calming the agitation of the supernatural substance only consumed 40 merits.

This is a very good deal.

He bent down to pick up the chimney, glanced at the pipe that had been crushed and deformed by the zombies, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

The old zombie's strength was truly terrifying.

In a pure contest of strength, he is no match for his opponent.

Fortunately, he had practiced with Captain Lu before coming here and performed well.

Fortunately, he will soon be promoted to a zombie with such terrifying power.

Xu Lindong quickly turned around and entered the courtyard, closing the gate behind him.

He quickly surveyed the area to ensure it was safe.

He then walked toward the house where he had sensed the old stove earlier.

With a creak, the door was pushed open and we entered.

In the light mist, an old stove made of cement and loess came into view.

The stove was empty, not even a pot was to be seen, and inside there was only a thin layer of ash and blackened stove walls.

"As expected, this old stove has already been ransacked..."

Xu Lindong glanced at it; it was as expected, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

The sinkhole field has been around for so many years, so even if there were any good things there, they would have been dug up by the previous visitors, just like the many strange and supernatural objects lying in the Department of Mysteries now.

However, the goal of capturing the zombie alive has been achieved.

This area is safe for now, so I can complete my promotion. After that, I'll go out and hunt down the remaining zombies and carry out cleanup missions.

He immediately unloaded the firewood from his back, threw it into the empty stove, and lit it with the stove fire, trying to burn out some unusual stove ash.

Then he lit a stove lamp next to it, to invoke the protection of the Kitchen God.

"May those above speak good words, and may those below ensure peace and safety!"

As a prayer-like phrase spread.

A golden-red barrier of heat suddenly unfolded, enveloping him completely.

This act of praying in a way that was close to the identity of the Kitchen God also helped him to digest some of the Kitchen God's charcoal within him.

After completing these necessary precautions, Xu Lindong took out the metal bottle containing the blood of the extraordinary creature, his mind settled, and he entered the Tower of Babel.

...

The tenth floor of the Tower of Babel.

"Knock knock knock!"

A knock came at the door.

Xu Lindong stood in front of the tunnel gate and knocked a few times.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief after confirming that the tall zombie behind the door had been suppressed by the power of the Tower of Babel and was unable to move.

This is a living zombie.

When he entered, he checked the Tower of Babel logbook, which showed that the zombies were in a state of "suppression" rather than "refining".

This means that living things cannot be directly refined unless they are killed first.

However, Xu Lindong did not intend to kill him, but rather planned to keep him for research.

He was somewhat curious whether capturing hundreds or thousands of zombies from the ancient house, ancestral hall, and sinkhole area and imprisoning them in the Tower of Babel would constitute a true "cleanup."

As long as the zombies don't die inside the tower, no more of their kind should emerge in the sinkhole area.

Given the unique nature of the Tower of Babel, even the supernatural gathering effect would likely fail, and the sinkhole field would probably be unable to penetrate the tower.

Of course, all of this is still just speculation.

He wouldn't dare try without absolute certainty. Besides, he didn't have the ability right now.

After all, catching zombies is physically demanding and requires strength.

"First, make contact with the zombies, understand and comprehend their power, and then complete the advancement to the Underground Sequence!"

Xu Lindong opened the door to the tunnel room.

Upon entering, one sees a mass of low-sequence supernatural matter writhing on the ground, and a tall, motionless zombie lying on the ground.

The tall zombie's face was covered in stove ash, its bluish-black cheeks were eerie, and its lifeless eyes were wide open, making it especially terrifying.

Xu Lindong approached and examined it closely. After a moment of careful observation, he shook his head.

"It's fucking ugly!"

He suddenly reached out and grabbed the zombie's arm.

Contact, let's begin!

Suddenly, a strong, chilling aura of death swept over us.

His palms were "stuck" as if frozen, as if his blood and strength were being suppressed.

The zombie's ghostly hand suppresses!

While this suppressive power isn't as terrifying as the ghostly claws of a Sequence Nine Wanderer, it's still not to be underestimated...

...